22-499: The Walter Lawrence Trophy is an annual award made to the player who has scored the fastest century in English domestic county cricket that season, in terms of balls received (not counting wides ). Hundreds are considered by a panel of experts which, as of 2020, comprise Michael Atherton , David Gower , Simon Hughes and John Barclay . Those which are adjudged to have been made against declaration bowling are not eligible for
44-597: A hundred rather than the number of balls faced. The award was made every season up to and including 1939 when Lawrence died. When first class cricket resumed in 1945 after the Second World War, Lawrence's son Guy left the presentation of the Trophy in abeyance. It was finally re-instated by Guy's son-in-law, Brian Thornton for the 1966 season. The recipient was then the player who had scored the fastest England Test century in terms of balls faced, at home or away, in
66-411: Is England batter Liam Livingstone , who struck 100 in 42 balls against Pakistan in the first T20 international match. Century (cricket) In cricket , a century is a score of 100 or more runs in a single innings by a batter . The term is also included in "century partnership " which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century
88-530: Is believed they were Tom Sueter and Edward "Curry" Aburrow . When Hambledon played Kent at Broadhalfpenny in August 1768, the Reading Mercury reported: "what is very remarkable, one Mr Small, of Petersfield, fetched above seven score notches off his own bat". Unfortunately it is not known if Small did this in one innings or if it was his match total. Hambledon batsmen Tom Sueter and George Leer are
110-554: Is known as a half-century . Scoring a century at Lord's cricket ground in London earns the batter a place on the Lord's honours boards . Centuries were uncommon until the late 19th century because of the difficulties in batting on pitches that had only rudimentary preparation and were fully exposed to the elements. There is doubt about the earliest known century, but the most definite claim belongs to John Minshull who scored 107 for
132-523: Is regarded as a landmark score for batters and a player's number of centuries is generally recorded in their career statistics . Scoring a century is loosely equivalent in merit to a bowler taking a five-wicket haul , and is commonly referred to as a ton or hundred . Scores of more than 200 runs are still statistically counted as a century, although these scores are referred to as double (200–299 runs), triple (300–399 runs), and quadruple centuries (400–499 runs), and so on. Reaching 50 runs in an innings
154-782: Is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter . Taking a five-wicket haul at Lord's earns the bowler a place on the Lord's honours boards . As of 2023, only thirteen cricketers have taken a five-wicket haul in all three international formats of the game ( Test cricket , One Day International and Twenty20 International ): Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga , India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav , New Zealand's Tim Southee , South Africa's Imran Tahir and Lungi Ngidi , West Indies' Jason Holder , Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales , Bangladeshi Shakib Al Hasan , Pakistani Umar Gul , and Afghan Rashid Khan . In 2018, Afghan cricketer Mujeeb Zadran , aged 16, became
176-642: Is second, scoring a 36-ball century against West Indies in Queenstown on 1 January 2014. Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) is third, scoring a 37-ball century against Sri Lanka in Nairobi on 4 October 1996. Sahil Chauhan of Estonia hit the fastest century in Twenty20 international cricket against Cyprus on 17 June 2024. Chauhan brought up his century in 27 balls, going past Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton 's hundred in 33 deliveries. Chauhan also broke Chris Gayle 's record for
198-572: Is the current record. The first century in Test cricket was scored by Charles Bannerman who scored 165 before retiring hurt, in the first ever Test between Australia and England, played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from 15 to 19 March 1877. The first century partnership in Test cricket was between W. G. Grace and A. P. Lucas , batting for England, in the first innings of the only Test match between England and Australia on
220-653: The Australians' 1880 tour of England, played at the Kennington Oval (6–8 September 1880). The current holder of the record for most centuries in Test cricket is Sachin Tendulkar of India, who has scored 51 centuries. The first One Day International (ODI) century was scored by Dennis Amiss , who made 103 for England against Australia at Old Trafford on 24 August 1972 . It was nearly 25 years before
242-506: The Duke of Dorset's XI v Wrotham at Sevenoaks Vine on 31 August 1769. This was a minor match. The first definite century in a top-class match was scored by John Small when he made 136 for Hampshire v Surrey at Broadhalfpenny Down in July 1775. The earliest known century partnership was recorded in 1767 between two Hambledon batsmen who added 192 for the first wicket against Caterham. It
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#1732787121076264-503: The Walter Lawrence Trophy are also awarded annually: Walter Lawrence Women's Award, Walter Lawrence MCC Universities Award and Walter Lawrence Schools Award. Four batsmen have won the main award on more than one occasion, twice each: Ian Botham , Graham Lloyd , Leslie Ames and Viv Richards . Kent have the most winners (8) followed by Somerset (6). The winner of the main award for the 2021 English cricket season
286-408: The award, although this restriction was not always observed in former years. As of 2020, the recipient of the Walter Lawrence Trophy is also presented with a cheque for £2,500. The trophy was instituted in 1934 by Sir Walter Lawrence, a builder and cricket enthusiast from Hertfordshire , the first recipient being Frank Woolley . At this stage in its history, the criterion was the time taken to score
308-524: The award, but eligibility was widened in 2008 to include limited overs cricket . Graham Napier became the first man to win the trophy under these new conditions by scoring a 44-ball hundred in a Twenty20 match. Matches involving individual university sides (i.e. University Centre of Cricketing Excellence matches and the Varsity Match ) are excluded, although games involving the combined British Universities team are eligible. Three other variants of
330-563: The calendar year. The 1970 award was made to Geoffrey Boycott for "the most meritorious innings of the England v The Rest of the World series", but in 1971 the original version of the award was restored. Since 1985, the trophy has been decided in terms of balls faced rather than minutes spent at the crease . University games were eligible for the trophy until 1995 and from 2001 to 2003. Until 2007, only first-class centuries could qualify for
352-401: The fastest century in Twenty20 cricket of 30 balls. On 22 April 2019, Scottish cricketer George Munsey scored 100 in 25 balls playing for Gloucestershire 2nd XI; his 39-ball total of 147 included 20 sixes. Five-wicket haul In cricket , a five-wicket haul (also known as a " five–for " or " fifer ") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings . This
374-561: The fastest recorded century in terms of balls faced in first-class cricket is held by David Hookes , who scored 102 runs from 34 balls for South Australia vs. Victoria in a Sheffield Shield match in 1982. In One day International cricket (ODI), the fastest century is held by South African batsman AB de Villiers , whose century came up in just 31 balls against the West Indies in the 2nd ODI at Johannesburg on 18 January 2015, and included 8 fours and 16 sixes. Corey Anderson (New Zealand)
396-537: The first ODI double century was scored by Australian Belinda Clark , who reached 229 * against Denmark at the Middle Income Group Club Ground , Mumbai during the 1997 Women's Cricket World Cup . Currently, Virat Kohli holds the record by scoring 50 ODI centuries, followed by Sachin Tendulkar with 49 centuries, Rohit Sharma with 31 centuries and Ricky Ponting with 30 centuries. The first Twenty20 International (T20I) century
418-472: The first two players definitely known to have shared a century partnership when they made 128 for the first wicket against Surrey at Broadhalfpenny Down in September 1769. W. G. Grace was the first batsman to score 100 career centuries in first-class cricket , reaching the milestone in 1895. His career total of 124 centuries was subsequently passed by Jack Hobbs , whose total of 199 first-class centuries
440-413: The previous record of 56 held jointly by Viv Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq . The record for the fastest century in first-class cricket in terms of time taken, in genuine match conditions rather than in contrived circumstances with deliberately weak bowling, is held by Percy Fender , who scored 100 in 35 minutes for Surrey against Northamptonshire in a County Championship match in 1920. The record for
462-463: The youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in an ODI. In 2019, Pakistani cricketer Naseem Shah , also aged 16, became the youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a Test match. Afghan cricketer Rashid Khan is the youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a T20 international match; he was 18 at the time. Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan has taken the most five-wicket hauls in Test matches with 67, and Pakistani Waqar Younis has taken
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#1732787121076484-459: Was scored by Chris Gayle who amassed 117 runs against South Africa at Johannesburg in the first match of ICC World Twenty20 tournament in 2007. Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell jointly hold the record for most T20I centuries (5). The fastest recorded century in Test cricket in terms of balls faced is held by Brendon McCullum , who scored 100 runs from 54 balls against Australia in 2016 at Christchurch, New Zealand , in his final test, beating
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